CAESAREAN SECTION AWARENESS MONTH: 7 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT C-SECTIONS

April is Caesarean Section (also known as C-Section) Awareness Month. Having a C-section is a common medical practice that's still often frowned upon (especially in Nigeria) and surrounded by myths.

It gets you thinking: are you a "lazy mother" for not pushing out your baby the "natural" way? Are the risks truly higher? Will you still enjoy that first-time mother-baby connection?

Let's get our facts straight about C-sections this awareness month. Here's what every woman (and man) should know:

1. BREASTFEEDING

Contrary to popular belief, if you want to breastfeed, the method of delivery won't have a major effect on your ability to do so. While it might require a little bit of patience, it is not at all an impossibility.

2. BONDING

A lot of women have read about the importance of having skin-to-skin contact with your child soon after after delivery. While ob-gyns do say that the area where the scar is might be a little tender, they also tell us that there's no reason the procedure should affect initial skin-to-skin contact between you and your baby.

3. VAGINAL BIRTH

Ever heard that after having a C-section once, you won't be able to have a vaginal birth subsequently? Wrong. If you do wish to deliver vaginally after a C-section, you should be put through what is called a trial or labour after cesarean (or TOLAC). This trial will determine whether it's safe to move forward with a vaginal birth. The good news is that the outcomes are positive for most women.

4. IS A C-SECTION LESS HASSLE?

Not exactly. While with vaginal births, there are risk of complications with multiple deliveries (having more than one baby at a time), complications during labour and birth and infection, a C-section is not exactly a walk in the park either. A C-section is still a major surgery that comes with risks such as abdominal surgery, excessive bleeding, and infection of the bladder, intestines, etc.

5. RECOVERY TIME

With a vaginal birth, a woman can usually leave the hospital a day or two after delivering her baby and requires around 2 weeks to recover. However, women who undergo C-sections require a bit more time - up to 4 weeks of recovery and may not be cleared to leave the hospital until 3-5 days after giving birth.

6. HOW MANY C-SECTIONS CAN I HAVE?

While there's no definitive number of Caesarean operations you are 'allowed' have, doctors do admit that the risk is higher with each one you undergo. You may have multiple C-sections over the course of a lifetime, but some of the medical risks do include bladder and bowel injuries, complications with the placenta and uterine scarring.

7. UNDERGOING THE PROCEDURE

Will you feel anything whilst under the knife? According to medical experts, it's unlikely you will experience any pain during the procedure, but you might feel some pressure or tugging (as a whole human being is being brought out of you!). Other common - and totally normal - symptoms are nausea and vomiting either before or after the C-section.